Editorial: Three Cheers

Congratulations to the fine music program at Sevier County High for its showing in the recent Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg. The Concert Choir, Women’s Choir and Men’s Choir all won awards.

Held in Mills Auditorium, the festival featured school choirs and bands from various states. There were schools from Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and Alabama, as well as choirs from Sevier County High. The Concert Choir finished third in Class 4A, which is the top class. The Women’s Choir finished second in that division and also earned a superior rating from the judges, while the men’s choir finished first.

All three choirs that earned awards at the festival performed at the Choral Department’s annual Spring Concert last Tuesday in the SCHS Theater. The concert also included the Freshman Choir and Mass Choir classes.

“It truly is a great thing for students to come together and share their musical talents,” choir director Nathan Rhea said. Indeed it is. Music is a major and essential component of a high school curriculum. The talented singers at SCHS deserve the awards they got at the festival.

Smoky Bear soccer player

overcomes adversity in game

One of the feel-good stories of the sports season happened May 2 during senior night at the SCHS Soccer Complex Along with the goodbyes and hugs of players graduating from the high school program, senior Edward Amador, a leukemia survivor who hadn’t played with the Smoky Bears since his sophomore season, returned to the sideline in uniform and ready to play.

“I had promised him on senior night I would start him,” SCHS coach Bryan Atchley said. “And he’d be introduced one last time in the lineup.” Not only did Amador — who’s still taking regular chemotherapy — start, he scored a goal. Amador received a pass from teammate Brayan Lemus for an open shot 90 seconds into the game.

“It felt pretty good back playing again with my team,” he said a couple of days later. “It’s been a year and a half.”

This was no gimmie. It was a legitimate goal scored by a good player who overcame adversity to be part of the team at its last regular season game. What a great way to end his career. Good luck with your treatments!

G-P art students show

quality of recent works

As a part of National Park Week recently, seven watercolor prints created by art students at Gatlinburg-Pittman High School were on display at Sugarlands Visitor Center. This was a nice honor and recognition for some gifted students at G-P. And hundreds of visitors to our area got to see the quality artwork.

The art students completed a watercolor landscape project in honor of National Park Week. Each student selected a park unit from across the nation, including well known sites such as Grand Canyon National Park and lesser known treasures such as Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Students created a watercolor image of a unique scene that reflected parks and also included information sheets that share interesting facts about each site.

“Because my family has been fortunate to visit so many incredible national parks, I decided I wanted to instill in my students an appreciation for the national park system and a desire to visit as well as help preserve these delicate environments,” said art teacher Alice Fisher. Projects are displayed along the walls of GPHS. My, don’t we have gifted young people in our community.